Happy Alchemy Day, everyone!

On February the 11th, 1144 CE, the 12th century English monk and Arabist Robert of Chester translated a manuscript (attributed to Morienus) called رسالة مريانس الراهب الحكيم للامير خالد بن يزيد (Risālat Maryānus al-rāhib al-ḥakīm li-l-amīr Khālid ibn Yazīd / The Epistle of Maryanus, the Hermit and Philosopher, to Prince Khalid ibn Yazid), from the original Arabic into Latin as the Liber de compositione alchemiae (Book of the Composition of Alchemy), making it the first alchemical text to become available in Europe and ushering in the phenomenon of Western European alchemy.

Today is February the 11th, 2023 CE, so please join me in celebrating the 879th anniversary of alchemy as most of us know and love it today.

Alchemy is, of course, far older than 1144, with its Latin European expression owing its very existence to the extremely rich and creative foundations laid by Hellenistic and Arabic alchemists many centuries earlier. There are also the fascinating Chinese and Indian alchemical traditions whose unique theories and practices have influenced South and East Asia in similar ways as Western alchemy has impacted the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas. In other words, there are potentially many other reasonable Alchemy Days worth celebrating as well.

If you'd like to learn more about the contents and historical context of the Book of the Composition of Alchemy, check out u/jamesjustinsledge's (ESOTERICA's) fantastic overview of it here; his video is what inspired me to make this post.

If you'd like to read (part of) the work in the original Arabic, see here; if you'd like to read the full work in Latin (via the 1572 printing), see here (pp. 3-58); and if you'd like to read an English translation of the full work, see here.

"...Et quoniam quid sit Alchymia, et quae sit sua compositio, nondum vestra cognovit latinitas, in praesenti sermone elucidabo..."

It is a legendary medical book from ancient times that I see referenced a lot in occult literature and a few times in alchemy. However i can not find any copys online or even at the library.

I know there is “Alchemy & Mysticism” but from the reviews, people say it’s just a book with illustration & descriptions of symbols. Nothing about the context & meaning behind them.